Escape from New York (1981)

Directed by John Carpenter. Starring Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Donald Pleasence, Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Frank Doubleday, Season Hubley. [R]

Sixteen years in the future, after a crime rate increase of 400% (what, did they announce that the McRib was going away for good this time?), the ruined island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison—no guards, but walls on all sides and mined bridges keep inmates from getting out. When hijackers crash Air Force One in the heart of the lawless urban wilderness, authorities give ex-military arrestee “Snake” Plissken (Russell) the mission of finding the president (Pleasence) and getting him out in one piece within 24 hours. B-movie style ethos and thrills, with Russell an effectively laconic agitator with eye-patch, scruff, and a permanent glower (all that’s missing is a cigarillo to chomp on) evading and battling roving gangs of crazies and “A-number one” crime boss Hayes. Though the limited budget spoils some of the potential of its premise and setting, and also negates the sort of scale and explosiveness that can put over the action spectacle, the effect of spooky minimalism generates consistent tension, and not a dollar was wasted in creating the grungy, deteriorating landscape. Opening narration voiced by Jamie Lee Curtis; matte work contributions from James Cameron. Followed by Escape from L.A.

76/100